What are Community Design Critiques?

A critique (or more informally a "crit") is an opportunity for us to come together as a small group and look at and discuss a creative artifact - a design wireframe, a persona, a newly-implemented UI or software component, etc. The idea is to focus on tangibles, not on abstract plans. What have we designed or built, why is it like this, what are its strengths, and how can we make it better? In many cases, techniques like our UX Walkthroughs, Inclusive Design Mapping Tool ("Petals & Flowers"), or User States and Contexts will help us concretely assess and discuss an artifact from different perspectives. It's based on the idea that creative work gets stronger when it is discussed amongst peers and diverse ideas are considered.

Crits help us to:

amplify the strengths of a design

suggest alternative trajectories

reflect on our work through the lenses of different users

identify areas of confusion

focus on tangible artifacts, not just abstract ideas or goals

These design crits are informal, constructive, specific, and respectful. It's a forum where anyone from the community can bring their designs and receive feedback.

Since these meetings are participant driven, there will be occasions when the crit will not meet. Meetings will be announced in the schedule below, and to the relevant mailing lists (i.e. inclusive design community list, and fluid-work).

To Join

Schedule

Every Tuesday at 10 AM - 11 AM ET, folks from the IDRC, Fluid community, and others get together to learn and chat about designs, design challenges, and to give feedback. Users who are remote typically join via Vidyo.

Note: occasionally the design crit will not be held. Please check the schedule.